The Wagner Plan and Key Skills & Knowledge

Students develop skills in critical thinking, inquiry, and analysis as they complete 36 units.
LEARNING COMMUNITIES KNOWLEDGE AREAS
Signature work in each learning community: civic knowledge Fulfill required number of courses (2-3) per category, across
and engagement, ethical reasoning and action at least 7 disciplines
First Year Program LC Arts

Intermediate Learning Community (or at least two units

in approved study abroad program) Humanities

Senior Learning Community

Sciences & Mathematics

The basis of the practical liberal arts is development of critical

thinking, inquiry, and analysis. These foundational skills are
developed across all classes and disciplines.
Students fulfill intensive courses (in gray below, coded with
double letters) and practice or exposure courses (in white below,
coded with single letters). Additional intensive courses may be Social Sciences
used in place of practice or exposure courses.

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING (UU/U)

KEY SKILLS
Creativity (CC/C) Oral Communication (OO/O)

Critical Reading and Analysis (RR/R) Quantitative Thinking (QQ/Q)

Technological Competency (TT/T) and Information Literacy (LL/L) Written Communication (WW/WC)
TT: FYP

LL: SLC
Intercultural Understanding (UU/U)
Intensive (UU): Courses with an intensive designation focus on differences among individuals and groups (vis à vis social positions,
practices and power relations) as seen in the intersection of major elements of identity such as ethnicity, gender expression, language,
nationality, immigration, race, religious belief and practice, sex, sexuality, ability/disability, and socio-economic status.
Practice or exposure (U): Courses with a Practice/exposure designation include discussion/application of intercultural understanding, but
do not make it a central focus of the course.

Creativity (CC/C)
Intensive (CC): Courses with an intensive designation focus on artistic creativity from conception to end product. Students will be exposed
to artistic traditions and analytic approaches, will develop skills through studying and practicing techniques and formal strategies, will be
encouraged to develop personal responses to the traditions and genres in which they work, and will create art by synthesizing the ideas,
concepts, and techniques in original expressions, such as writings, visual arts, musical compositions, and performances.
Practice or exposure (C): Courses with a practice/exposure designation develop creativity and/or focus on understanding creative
processes in any field.

Critical Reading A nd A nalysis

Intensive (RR): Courses with an intensive designation focus on sustained instruction in the critical reading of academic texts, literary
works, historical documents and other kinds of material culture. students learn to move beyond a superficial understanding of a text to notice
critical details and underlying positions, question assumptions, consider a range of interpretive possibilities, draw out the implications of the
observations, and put interpretations in conversation with relevant texts and contexts.
Practice or exposure (R): Courses with a practice/exposure designation deeply engage students with texts of varying levels of complexity.

Technological Competency (TT/T) & Information Literacy (LL/L)

Intensive (TT): Courses with an intensive designation focus during class or laboratory time on creation or instruction of technology with
active student involvement (beyond word processing, presentation, and classroom management programs).
Practice or exposure (T): Courses with a practice/exposure designation use technology to support course content (beyond word processing,
presentation, and classroom management programs).
Intensive (LL): Courses with an intensive designation dedicate a substantial portion of instruction during class or laboratory time to helping
students develop a comprehensive information literacy skill set. Courses begin with how to effectively identify a need for information, and
move through how to locate, evaluate, utilize, and responsibly share that information.
Practice or exposure (L): Courses with a practice/exposure designation require students to critically analyze information to support course
content.

Oral Communication (OO/O):

Intensive (OO): Courses with an intensive designation focus on sustained oral communication instruction, including feedback and revision,
and culminate in formal oral presentations. students learn how to prepare a presentation with an audience in mind, including increasing
knowledge of the audience or persuading.
Practice or exposure (O): Courses with a practice/exposure designation use public speaking and verbal interactions to support course
content (beyond normal lecture or Q&A interactions).

Quantitative Thinking (QQ/Q):

Intensive (QQ): Courses with an intensive designation instruct students to proficiently construct logical arguments and rigorous
mathematical proofs, and develop students’ aptitude to produce examples and counter-examples, with a focus on differentiating between
coherent mathematical arguments and fallacious ones.
Further, these courses teach students the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning, including mathematical induction, and how
to formulate general hypotheses and conjectures by abstracting general principles from numerical examples and problems.
Finally, courses with an intensive designation train students how to analyze real-world problems quantitatively, formulate reasonable
estimates, apply appropriate equations, and differentiate between valid and questionable conclusions.
Practice or exposure (Q): Courses with a practice/exposure designation help students interpret quantitative information (both numerical
and pertaining to systems of logic) and develop arguments supported by quantitative information expressed in various formats, such as
equations, graphs, charts, tables, propositional or symbolic logical arguments, etc.

Written Communication (WW/WC):

Intensive (WW): Courses with an intensive designation focus on building skills of writing as a major component of course content, and offer
overt and sustained instruction in writing. students will complete multiple formal writing assignments of varying length that include at least
one instructor-guided revision process, and that total a minimum of twenty pages.
Practice or exposure (WC): Courses with a practice/exposure designation use the skill of writing to support course content.